Comparing the two main adaptations is interesting. The '79 one changes the villain's personality but keeps the plot structure and mood close. The 2004 one keeps the villain's personality more intact (Barlow talks) but changes the plot structure and mood drastically. Which is more faithful? It's a toss-up. The '79 version is faithful to the story's body; the 2004 version is slightly more faithful to the story's villain, but not its soul. Neither fully captures the book's essence, but for different reasons.
Let's not forget the ending. The 1979 miniseries ending, while slightly altered, retains the bleak, ambiguous, on-the-run feeling of the book's conclusion. The 2004 ending is a more traditional, hopeful 'victory' scene. The 2022 ending leans into a darker, more cyclical horror. King's original ending is famously downbeat and haunting. The miniseries gets the closest to that spirit. The others provide more closure or a different kind of scare, which again moves them away from the author's initial intent.
The invasion of domestic space. King is a master of making the home unsafe, and 'Salem's Lot' is a blueprint. The horror doesn't happen in graveyards or castles; it happens at your kitchen window, in your bedroom, on your front porch. The movie brilliantly uses the image of the vampire floating outside the window, tapping, wanting to be invited in. It turns the symbol of safety and privacy into the frontline of a siege. This theme attacks the very core of where we feel most secure, suggesting that no lock or wall can keep out a nightmare that knows your name and remembers what it used to be to be human.